Senior High Schools(SHSs) in Ghana have become common places for riots and vandalism in recent years.
Most of the time, students have resorted to these phenomena to register their displeasure with authorities or their fellow students.
These riots have resulted in the loss of life, destruction of property, the loss of study time, and negative publicity for the schools involved.
In a recent disturbance, police had to fire warning shots to disperse a clash between students of Labone SHS on their campus.
The school was plunged into chaos on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, when two student factions clashed. The scuffle that was captured on an amateur video has since been trending on social media.
According to the La-Dadekotopon Municipal Education Director, Habiba Kotoma, the clash started after a final-year student seized some packs of food belonging to a first-year student.
In the face of the rising number of riots in SHSs, The Ghana Report revisits some incidents that have taken place in the past 18 months.
- Wulugu Senior High School
In March 2022, the students of Wulugu Senior High School in the North East Region protested over the quality of food served to them among other concerns.
During the protest, they vandalized school property.
The Regional Security Council subsequently shut down the School to allow investigations into the incident.
After the investigations, all students involved in the riot were surcharged GH¢76 each while five of the students believed to be the leaders of the riot were expelled from the boarding house of the school.
- Islamic Senior High School
According to them, frequent calls and promises for speed humps on the stretch fell on deaf ears.
The police were then called to the scene to clear the roadblock and disperse the agitated students. However, the police are said to have fired tear gas and shot into the protesting crowd, causing injuries.
At least 25 students who suffered from respiratory distress were rushed to the hospital.
The police in a statement hours after the incident revealed that some police officers suffered a similar fate.
- Sandema Senior High School
The second-year students protested against the Head of the School’s Cadet Corps for seizing their mobile phones on campus.
They reportedly set the cadet room ablaze in the heat of the violent protest.
A similar riot occurred in the school in July 2019, leading to the death of a male student.
Violence erupted between the cadet corps and some of the students when the cadet tried to enforce some rules and regulations of the school.
They burnt down and destroyed motorbikes belonging to some teachers and smashed the windscreen of a nearby vehicle.
The school was subsequently shut down for two weeks by the Builsa North District Security Committee.
- Bolgatanga Technical Institute(BOTEC)
Students of the school went on a rampage after their colleagues and two teachers were arrested by officials of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) on Monday, 1 August 2022 for indulging in examination malpractice.
In response, the students went on a rampage and pelted the teachers with stones.
The angry students blocked the main entrance to the school, as well as the main Bolgatanga-Navrongo road, preventing motorists and other road users from using that stretch of the road.
The police were called in to disperse them and control the situation but they turned their anger on the police and pelted them with stones, leading to damage to the riot control van.
Police fired warning shots to disperse the students, but they ran into the school, wrecking seven cars and many motorbikes that belonged to their teachers.
The Upper East Regional Security Council (REGSEC) subsequently closed down temporarily.
- Bawku Technical Institute
Final-year students of the school rioted against what they said was strict invigilation which prevented them from engaging in examination malpractice in August 2022.
A female student was seen in a viral video sending a strong warning to school authorities to either relax the strict invigilation or else there would be no peace in the school.
A male student was also heard in the background issuing death threats to one of their teachers.
They went ahead to destroy school property and vandalized some vehicles belonging to their teachers, which compelled the Upper East Regional Security Council (REGSEC), led by its Chair, Mr. Stephen Yakubu, to close down the school to ensure law and order.
- Krobea Asante Technical and Vocational School
Students of the Krobea Asante school at Effiduase Asokore in the Ashanti Region went on a rampage in January 2023 over the poor results of their predecessors in their final examinations.
The students caused a power outage and broke into the storerooms of the school, scattered food items and destroyed several properties, including some six cars and a water system in the facility, among others.
About 39 of them were arrested while the school was shut down.
The culprits were subsequently arranged before the Asokore Mampong District Court and were remanded in police custody.
They were later granted bail and surcharged GH¢430 for each student.
- Fumbisi Agric Senior High School
Reprisal violent attacks erupted between students of the school from Bawku and Builsa, following an earlier attack on a Builsa student in March 2023.
Two male students suffered broken legs in the tribal clash while scores of other students were also left with minor injuries.
According to reports, three Bawku students beat up a house prefect for objecting to their mistreatment of a junior student.
The attack on the house prefect over a Builsa student incited anger among the Builsa students in the school, who then turned on those of Bawku descent.
The police were called in to bring the situation under control.
Following the riot, the school was closed down indefinitely.
- Sirigu Integrated Senior High School
Sirigu Integrated SHS in the Upper East Region was shut down following ethnic-related unrest among students on campus in May 2023.
The riot erupted on 29 May 2023 between a group of Frafra students and a section of Kusasi students.
According to reports, the riot started after a Kusasi student punished a Frafra junior.
The students hurled stones at one another, forcing many students to take cover inside classrooms and dormitories.
The school’s authorities called in the police after their efforts to restore calm ended in vain. This led to the arrests of 21 students.
- Koforidua SECTECH And New Juaben SHS
The Board and Management of the Koforidua Senior High Technical School (SECTECH) indefinitely suspended 85 students following an attack on teachers and students of New Juaben Senior High School.
The attack was on Sunday, May 29, 2023, and left the New Juaben SHS chaplain and four other students injured.
A student of SECTECH was also hit in the head with a machete and was partially paralyzed.
They also destroyed school properties, including an Eicher bus parked on the campus.
Police officers who were called to de-escalate the situation arrested four students of SECTECH, while the school authorities also identified six students who masterminded the attack.